Exploring the Impact of Climate Change on the Small‐Scale Aquaculture Industry of Ghana: A Farm‐Level Analysis

Aquaculture is adopted as a remedy to increase the food fish supply, nutrition, and improve the lives of rural people in Ghana. Most actors operate at the small‐scale level and live in rural communities with limited social services and livelihood support. Climate change continues to battle the small‐scale aquaculture industry of Ghana, even though the issue has not been considered a priority by the relevant stakeholders. This paper presents an analysis of small‐scale aquaculture in the context of climate change using farm‐level data on climate and non‐climate change variables. We employed multiple sampling techniques to interview 40 fish farmers in the two important small‐scale aquaculture farm regions (Ashanti and Bono‐Ahafo) in Ghana. Our findings showed that small‐scale aquaculture is very viable, yielding 2.81 kg m −2 of fish and generating a revenue of GH¢ 22.79 m −2 at a production cost of GH¢ 10.8. Yields of farmers are declining at a rate of 0.33 per production cycle. Climate disasters will increase farmers’ production costs by up to 75%. Floods are the most frequent and the most catastrophic climate disaster, with the potential to increase production costs by up to 43%. Without effective mitigation and adaptation strategies, small‐scale fish farmers will be severely impacted by climate change. There may be an upward shift in market prices, thereby affecting the purchasing power and well‐being of rural people who depend on farmed fish for food. We recommend the Fisheries Commission, Ghana National Association of Fish Pond Farmers, Ghana National Aquaculture Association and other relevant stakeholders continue climate change education among small‐scale aquaculture operators. We also urge the government to increase the support for small‐scale aquaculture development.